Help!
by Annise
Summary: A series of oneshots based on the track titles for the album 'Help'. No. 6: 'You're Gonna Lose That Girl': Temari’s beautiful, but it turns out she’s also a real flirt. Shikamaru wants her, but is he up to the competition? ShikaTem
1. Help!

Introduction

Hi!

I decided to set myself a little challenge, to help combat boredom. I was scanning through my music and realised that some of the song titles would make great story titles too, so my challenge is to write a oneshot for each of the titles from the Beatles album 'Help!' The stories probably won't have anything to do with the songs except for the title. They'll all be Naruto stories, but characters and themes will vary. I'll give a brief summary and such before each story.

Please read and review! All constructive criticism welcomed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I also don't own the Beatles or their song titles.

**Story 1: Help!**

**Summary:** Gaara sits alone during the full moon, the demon within him crying out for blood.

**Genre:** Angst/Drama

**AN:** For those that read 'Sand' Yes, it's another angsty Gaara fic, but I love him so… and it was the only idea for the title that went beyond a paragraph. Not all of the stories will be this dark. I think this is one of the more difficult ones to write. Anyway… hope you enjoy (and review :D).

**Help!**

_This isn't me. I'm not like this. I don't want to be like this._

Gaara let his eyes rove around the streets beneath him. They were empty, except for one man stumbling home after a night of drinking. Gaara followed him with his crystal blue eyes, watching until he turned the corner out of view.

_I never asked for this. I didn't ask to be a demon. I'd live without the sand if it meant that someone would look at me with something other than fear or hatred._

The full moon had risen high in the sky above him. He was feeling the familiar tingling in his fingertips and tightening of his stomach; he could feel the demon, awakening somewhere within him, wanting to be released. The demon was waiting for freedom. Gaara wanted him to leave him, forever. He wanted a night of peace: one night where he could sleep and not worry about the demon. He had lived all his life afraid of sleep, fearing to close his eyes because behind them the demon waited.

_I just want to sleep. I don't want to live like this anymore_

So many people in the village relied on him. His sand, his ultimate defence, and also his ultimate attack, was one of the village's strongest weapons. They relied upon him to fight for them. And yet they were terrified of him. When he looked at them, they viewed him with fear and distrust.

_They all run away from me. Why did no one ever try to help me?_

He stood up slowly, looking out over the village that he called his home. If it was his home, though, then why did he view the buildings with disinterest, the streets with contempt, the people with barely concealed revulsion? If this was his home, then why did he feel that everyone in it would be happier if he was dead?

_They made me to fight for them, but they won't help me live with the demon they gave me!_

Gaara could feel the familiar anger rising within him. If this was his home then why did his own father try to kill him?

_They don't want the demon they created, and yet they still use me._

A moment later, sand swirled and he was no longer standing on the roof, but on the ground of the street below. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye, inside one of the houses by the side of the street. His eyes drifted in that direction, to see a man standing at the window, looking at him in shock and hastily closing the curtains.

_They all run from me._

Gaara let the anger flow, like a tangible force. It floated through his limbs, it extended around him like a shield. He closed his eyes. He could feel the demon within him. It filtered through his consciousness, filling his senses. The moon was full. The demon wanted blood.

Extending his left hand, Gaara stared at it, hardly seeming to recognise it as a part of himself. Without moving he gathered sand from the ground into it, then clenched a fist, tipping it to one side and letting the sand trickle slowly out onto the floor again. His eyes watched, seeming fascinated with the simple action of gravity on the sand.

_The sand flows. It flows like water. Like blood: Like life, ebbing away._

A demonic smile twisted Gaara's features as he felt the demon within him clawing its way into his psyche. He could almost hear its voice, demanding, shouting: Kill. Kill. Kill.

_I have that power. They may hate me, but I have the power to kill._

Stalking through the streets of the Hidden Village of Sand, Gaara kept his senses alert for some unwitting soul. Then he heard something behind him. Someone was approaching.

He turned around, his turquoise eyes focused to pinpoints, his eyelids narrowing. He saw the man in front of him. Just a man; no one special. He looked at Gaara, took in the red hair, the eyes, the dark rims around those eyes that spoke of 12 years without much sleep, the kanji burnt into his forehead. The man's eyes widened in that too familiar expression of terror and Gaara smiled, extending a hand slowly.

The demon wanted blood.

He could provide blood.

Streets away, another man was walking home. He paused, hearing a terrible strangled cry.

"HELP!" the voice called. "HE…" the second cry was cut off. The man shuddered, pausing for a moment and listening to the deadly stillness that followed the scream. He listened, imagining that he heard a crazed, maniacal laugh coming from the same direction. Shaking his head in disbelief, but with fear in his eyes, he hurried on.


	2. The Night Before

**Story 2: The Night Before**

**Summary: **The night before the Chuunin exam main matches, Temari looks ahead to the coming battle, and wonders if she should obey her orders.

**Genre:** Drama/General

**AN:** I've always liked Temari, and she always seemed to be slightly at odds with the idea of attacking Konoha, so I decided to explore her thoughts on the matter. I hope she isn't OOC. At the end is a short preview summary of 'You've got to hide your love away,' the next in the series. Enjoy… and please review… even to say you think it's rubbish. If anyone has any ideas for 'Ticket to Ride' could you send some inspiration my way... so far I'm drawing a blank.

**The Night Before**

Temari sat on the windowsill staring blankly out of the window. Behind her, she could hear Kankurou still fiddling with Karasu. He had been oiling joints and sharpening weapons for hours. Her fan, leaning against the wall beside her, had been polished to a brilliant shine. They were filling time.

It was already dark outside. Gaara was out there somewhere, doing whatever he did in the hours when normal people slept. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

"Oi, Temari… do you know where I put the bandages?" Kankurou said. She turned her head towards him and gestured at the door to the room where they slept.

"In one of the cupboards," she said, her gaze immediately returning to the streets below the balcony. They were starting to clear, people returning to their beds to get a good night's sleep before the next day's excitement. _Little do they know_, she thought. Behind her, Kankurou gave a loud yawn, stretching out his arms.

"Well," he said, placing the bandages on the table beside his puppet. "I'm off to bed." Temari glanced sideways under half-closed eyelids and nodded.

"Sleep well," she said.

"You shouldn't stay out here too long," Kankurou said, looking at her for a long moment. He was frowning at her. She could see him out of the corner of her eye, but she didn't look at him.

"Aa," she replied. "I'll go to bed in a little while."

"Don't forget to close the window when you do," he said, turning and sliding the door to their bedroom open.

"I won't," she muttered. She didn't think he had heard her, though. The door slid shut behind him, and she could hear the muffled noises of him getting out the sleeping mats and blankets from the cupboards that lined the room.

_How can he sleep at a time like this?_ She asked herself, as she gazed out of the open window at the streets of the village below.

She wasn't concerned about her first match, of course. All she had to do was watch his shadow and let her fan take care of the rest. While her opponent certainly wasn't stupid, she didn't see anything to worry about in his one useful technique.

Part of her was concerned for Kankurou. Aburame Shino had shown off some disturbing techniques in his preliminary match, along with considerable skill in forward planning and strategy. While she was sure that her- very capable- sibling would be able to defeat him, she wasn't sure that he could do it without getting hurt, or without using up a lot of chakra.

An even larger part of her was worried about Gaara. She had heard great things about the Uchiha, and maybe he would provide a challenge for her psychotic younger brother. Everyone in Konoha seemed to have high hopes for the dark-haired boy; even those who knew the state of Gaara's last opponent.

Temari had been to see the Konoha Genin, Rock Lee, in hospital. He was the only person she had ever seen that had broken through Gaara's sand with nothing more than speed and strength. She had a certain amount of admiration for the way that he had fought without giving up, against a far stronger opponent. For the first time ever, Gaara had actually looked worried in battle.

She hadn't even made it through the door. Seeing him, sitting in his hospital bed looking so dejected, weak, defeated, she hadn't felt it right for her to go in to see him.

Tomorrow Gaara would be facing an opponent that was Konoha's number-one rookie Genin. Someone that was almost certainly better, and stronger, than the boy that had given Gaara his first real challenge. Granted, what they had seen of Uchiha Sasuke in the preliminary matches had not been particularly special… although his use of taijutsu had been clever. But Konoha's number-one had to have something more than that up his sleeve. Temari wasn't so much worried about the outcome of the battle; rather she was concerned about what would happen to Gaara's state of mind during it.

Every time the Uchiha's name had been mentioned, Gaara's ears had pricked up. He was excited about this battle. He wanted blood. That worried Temari. Her already unstable brother was being fed an opponent that might be able to do him damage. She dreaded the outcome.

And yet, that was still not her greatest worry. The matches were, after all, just a pre-show for them. The main event would be the Sand's betrayal of Konoha.

Tomorrow they would be at war with this village.

Temari's eyes slid closed again, and she sighed, turning away from the window. Karasu stared at her accusingly from where Kankurou had left him. She ignored the creepy-looking three eyed puppet and walked towards the door of the bedroom. Inside, she could hear Kankurou snoring gently. He was always a heavy sleeper, even on missions.

She slid the window closed and left the room, walking slowly down the stairs and out into the night.

The streets were nearly empty now. It was late. She knew she should be trying to sleep, but she also knew that she wouldn't be able to. A walk might tire her out a bit, and maybe the fresh air would clear her head.

_Why do we have to do this?_ Temari thought to herself. She didn't want a war. She didn't want to fight Konoha. It wasn't that she had a special attachment to them. But she knew what the alliance had cost both sides. The third Hokage and the third Kazekage had sweat blood to find an arrangement that both of them could agree to.

Now Kazekage-sama, her father, was breaking it, and for what? For some half-baked promises offered by the leader of the Sound village. For power he supposed he could gain by taking over Konoha's business. Did he care about the people who would be involved? The ninja, on both sides, who would fight, and die. And did he care that the leader of the Sound village was an S-class criminal with a massive grudge against Konoha, and little or no loyalty towards the Sand village? A ninja whose strength rivalled the Kazekage's, and who would betray them as soon as look at them.

_Are you blind, father? _

Of course it wasn't Temari's place to question the Kazekage's wisdom. And yet she wanted to. She wanted to stand up and say 'This is wrong.'

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Temari whirled around to face the man that had accosted her. It was a Konoha Jounin, though one that she didn't recognise, leaning against the wall at the side of the road. In her distraction she hadn't even noticed him. He wore his forehead protector on backwards over his head and he had an acupuncture needle in his mouth, used like a toothpick, but the uniform was the same as the others all wore.

"Who are you?" she demanded, trying to keep her tone even and not show the shock that his sudden appearance had caused.

"Shiranui Genma. The examiner for the main matches tomorrow." Her eyes widened slightly.

"Oh," she whispered, then she looked up, saying, "I… I couldn't sleep." She forced a smile, trying to seem light. "I'm too excited." Genma didn't seem convinced that the look on her face was one of excitement, but he nodded at her.

"You should go home. It's not wise for you to be out this late," he said. She nodded.

"I'll go now," she replied.

As she walked back the way she had come, she could feel his eyes on her back, watching her. She returned to the rooms that had been allocated to her and her brothers for their stay in Konoha, and when she was inside, she looked out of the window. There was no sign of the Konoha Jounin. Temari let out a deep sigh.

She went into the bedroom, opening and closing the door as quietly as she could so as not to disturb Kankurou. He had laid out her sleeping mat for her, and she gratefully lay down on it, wrapping the blanket around herself and closing her eyes.

_I could ignore the orders. I could warn Konoha. I could go and see the Hokage now, and tell him what I know…_ Temari halted that train of thought, knowing that whatever she wanted was irrelevant. Her father had commanded her to fight. She had orders. She wouldn't betray her village, her family, everything she knew. While she did not want to fight, she would have to trust her father's wisdom and hope against hope that everything would turn out all right.

She could console herself that her participation, or lack thereof, would have little impact on the battle anyway. Even while she thought this she knew it didn't matter, even if it was true. But perhaps it was enough to calm her troubled mind, because she soon drifted into the silent world of sleep.

---------

**PREVIEW**

**Story 3: 'You've got to hide your love away':** Neji used to hate her, but now he can't stop thinking about her. Is the gap between main house and branch house too large to ever be bridged? (Hyuugacest)


	3. Youve Got to Hide Your Love Away

**Story 3: You've Got to Hide Your Love Away**

**Summary: **Neji used to hate her, but now he can't stop thinking about her. Is the gap between main house and branch house too large to ever be bridged? (Mild Hyuugacest)

**Genre:** Romance/Angst

**AN:** The first three of these stories are quite similar… just exploring a single character's thoughts and feelings about things. While I enjoy writing this type of story, I'll try and bring in some more action in the fourth one… But 4 is coming quite slowly, so it may be a while… the only thing I've decided about it so far is that it will feature our beloved main character, Naruto… with some friends.

Anyway… on with the story! R&R please! Remember: for every time you read and don't review, a puppy gets sick. Think of the puppies! I'd really like some feedback on these ideas.

**You've Got to Hide Your Love Away**

It was funny the things he remembered about a fight that happened long ago. At the time, the thoughts had barely touched on his conscious mind… he had been watching for her next attack, rather than paying attention to the tiny details. Yet, when he looked back, they stood out so clearly it was really a wonder he had missed them.

Her skin, so soft that it felt as though his hand would slip away when he touched her. Hair, the colour of a midnight sky, or a dark lake highlighted by the tender rays of the moon. Her scent, so delicate, a faint hint of vanilla over the earthy smell imposed upon her by the forest. Her large round eyes looking at him; blank white irises still managing to express clearly her every emotion.

Neji remembered every feature of her startled face as she looked at him in pain, desolation, confusion. She just wanted to change herself! How he had hated her then. How he had wanted to kill her. And he would have, were it not for the Jounin that stepped in. He remembered the fingers on his forehead, the hands on his arm, around his neck, as he looked at her, hatred seething from within. He just wanted to wipe away her false show of strength.

And then there was that strange look on her face as she looked at him, saying that he was the one that was suffering. The anger that had surged through him then… because he had known even then that it was true. Looking back it seemed so bizarre, but then a lot had changed since then. Now he knew it was possible to change. He had seen it with his own eyes, and it had given him hope: something the previous 13 years of his life had been lacking.

Yet he still remembered her haggard breathing as she coughed, standing unevenly on legs that wouldn't quite hold her upright. Her stumbling steps as she moved towards him. The memory made him want to reach out, to catch her, support her. He couldn't believe that he had caused so beautiful and delicate a creature such pain. She had coughed up blood from injuries he had inflicted. He had looked into those soulful silver eyes and seen the suffering that he had caused and a part of him had relished in it.

The person he had become was disgusted with the person he had been. But then his feelings towards her had changed somewhat. Now, when he looked at her, he didn't see the main house brat; he saw her loneliness, her aspirations and the kindness that was her weakness as a ninja but her strength as a human being.

Now, when he looked at her, he wanted to wrap his arms around her and say that he was sorry. But they had never mentioned it since, and he wouldn't be the one to bring it up.

"Neji." Neji turned and saw his uncle standing in the doorway.

"Hiashi-sama," he replied, bowing his head slightly.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Neji followed his uncle to the training area in the middle of the house. He sat down on the step at the edge of the small arena, picking up his sandals from their place on the floor. Suddenly he noticed that they were not alone. Standing, watching him, in the middle of the training ground was Hinata. She was wearing her training clothes, and as he looked at her he couldn't help but think that without her coat she looked taller, less shy, more mature. She stood tall now, her hands by her side, hardly any of her former shyness showing through. It was hard to imagine how much she had changed in the past year.

"Today you will train with Hinata," Hiashi said to Neji, stepping down into the training ground and moving towards his eldest daughter.

"Yes sir," he said quietly, hiding the emotions that hardened in the pit of his stomach. He had been avoiding Hinata for days now… but he had been thinking about her almost constantly. Seeing her standing there, waiting for him to fight her, it brought unwelcome feelings to the forefront of his consciousness. The most he was willing to admit, even to himself, was that he didn't want to fight her.

Once his sandals were on, he stepped into the centre of the training ground and stood facing her. She smiled at him, and it was not the shy smile she had previously occasionally graced him with; the nervous smile that said that she felt uncomfortable around him and didn't really want to be there. She was excited to be training with him.

"Good morning, Neji nii-san," she said, the bright smile still on her face. Neji couldn't help but smile back.

"Good morning, Hinata-sama," he replied.

They paused there for a moment, facing each other. Neji hadn't spoken to her much recently, and he hadn't realised how much she had changed. The way she looked now… he could hardly recognise her. Except that he did recognise her; in his memory of a fiercely determined look on her face as she stood, blood dripping from the corners of her mouth, rising from a blow to tell him that she did not go back on her word. That Hinata was this Hinata, only now it was who she _was_ as opposed to who she was trying to be.

"Begin," Hiashi said. With a nod to his uncle, Neji dropped into the Hyuuga fighting stance. Hinata did the same. Again, he noticed the subtle differences in her from when he had last fought her. Her stance was more sure, her footing secure. She knew exactly what she would be doing with her next movement.

The byakugan activated in two pairs of silver eyes, watching each other. With those eyes, Neji could see the extra layer of confidence within his cousin. Her eyes were focused on him, single-minded, her concentration total. He saw the chakra swirling inside her; stronger than it had been the last time he had faced her like this.

He waited for her to move first, and when she did, he was amazed by the deftness of her leap. Landing beside him on one foot, her other foot span around, aiming a kick at his midsection. As he dodged, jumping aside, she had already twisted around again, her hands pushing towards him, palms open, chakra sizzling around them.

Neji batted one hand away and blocked the other with his forearm, aiming his own attack at her. She blocked in return, pushing his arm away and using his momentum to slip inside his guard. He blanched as her right hand connected with his chest.

For a long moment they stood there. Neji stared at the floor behind her, astonished, remembering a similar instance, with the roles reversed, from their previous fight. The blow had not done him any damage; this was only a training match after all, and they didn't want to injure each other. Yet the fact that she had been able to hit him at all amazed him.

She moved her hand away, standing back. She was frowning.

"Neji nii-san," she said, admonishment in her tone. "Do not go easy on me." He straightened staring at her with a newfound admiration, and he nodded, dropping once more into their fighting stance. _How much has she changed?_ He thought, pushing his weight forward onto his front foot and preparing to strike.

-------

Why couldn't he get her out of his head? Every time he closed his eyes, she was imprinted on the inside of his eyelids. He could see her standing in front of him, smiling. In some ways he looked exactly the same as she had the first time he had fought her. In others, she looked completely different.

Her newfound self-confidence shone through in the way she held herself, shoulders back, chin up… nothing at all like she used to be, a shy child hiding behind hands and hair. She had been beautiful before, if you looked beyond the shyness. Now she was stunning.

"So," Hiashi said, entering the room where Neji was sitting, drinking the tea that Hinata had made for him after their training match. "Do you think she is ready?" Neji looked up, a frown creasing his brow as he looked at his uncle.

"Ready for what?" he asked. A small smile turned up the corners of his mouth.

"Kurenai wishes to enter her team in the next Chuunin exam." Neji nodded slowly, thinking. He took another sip of his tea as he thought, and his eyes dropped to stare at the table in front of him.

She had changed herself, that was for sure… she was a different person than the one that had entered the exam as a rookie. But was she ready to take it again? Would she pass it this time, with her comrades, or would she fail and lose confidence again? Just the thought of that happening made him terribly sad.

Neji had looked at her in the fight today and seen a whole new side to his cousin, and perhaps this was a side that could look at failures and grow stronger from them.

His mind wandered, and he found himself thinking about the battle in more detail. Why was he still focusing on the tiny details? Her delicious scent brushing close to him, the softness of her hands as they skimmed past his. Trained muscles moving with precision to block, parry, dodge, attack. The way her eyelids snapped open to reveal her strangely expressive silver eyes. Even the vein-like protrusions caused by activating the byakugan seemed beautiful on her. She had a passion, and though she still kept it quietly inside, it was there, and he had seen it. Perhaps he was the only one that had. The thought made him feel special, as if he had shared something with her that no one else could.

_Stop it, Neji, you're being stupid_, he told himself. He was still staring at the table, barely aware of his uncle, who was still waiting for his answer.

Was she ready? Probably. Did he want her to do it? No. The realisation of it struck him full-force like a blow to the guts. Every time he heard about her going on a mission his heart leapt to his throat, wondering if she would be all right… would she need someone to help her, to protect her? And he would gladly do it: not just out of a sense of duty, because he was branch house and she was main house… he would do it because he wanted her to always be safe. He didn't want those wonderful eyes to ever see pain again.

But he was being selfish. She was main house, and she was out of his reach, forever placed upon a pedestal, behind a barrier he could not surmount. And yet he found himself thinking of her differently… rather than as the main house brat that had caused his caging, he thought of her as a beautiful porcelain statuette that must never be broken.

Perhaps their match today had shattered that image, because it was clear to him now that she could take care of herself. She wouldn't need him to protect her. The porcelain had been glazed in battle-toughened iron. So why did he still want to? He sighed. He knew the answer, though he would never admit it to himself. Because admitting that he loved her would bring nothing except pain.

"Neji?" his uncle said. Neji looked back up at him. His uncle was waiting for an answer. Neji closed his eyes.

He had a sudden image of her, dirty, panting, bleeding… in a fight she couldn't win. He couldn't bear that. But much as he loved her, he had to let her go. She was main house, he was branch house… they were cousins! They were both too close and too far away for anything between them to ever happen. He had to hide his love for her… because even if she might feel the same way, nothing would ever be able to come of it. It was impossible. He had to let her go, and this was the first step.

"I believe that she is ready," he said, with a nod of conviction. Hiashi smiled.

"So do I. She has changed a lot, has she not?" Hiashi didn't notice the far-off look in Neji's eyes, or if he did he did not see what it meant.

"Yes. Yes she has…" he said quietly.


	4. I Need You

**Story 4: I Need You**

**Summary: **On a mission, Sakura is given a painful reminder of someone she has thought about every day for the past two and a half years. Meanwhile, Naruto is on his way back to Konoha.(One-sided SakuSasu and NaruSaku)

**Genre:** Romance / some action-adventure

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own Naruto, or any of the characters.

**AN: **This is set at the end of the timeskip, just before Part 2 of the manga. There aren't any spoilers for events that occur in the manga… although in this Sakura does use some of the fruits of her training with Tsunade (so she's a bit better than she is in the anime). There's a couple of little action sequences… I was planning on there being more, but it didn't really work. Hope you enjoy! Preview for Story 5 at the bottom… and there'll be some much more overt pairings than here. Many thanks to ScreaminPsiren for help with ideas (for this and 'Another Girl').

**I Need You**

Waking up to the sound of his teacher's voice, Naruto squinted into the sunlight. It had rained in the night, and the outside of his sleeping bag was damp, and his hair with it. Mercifully it was a waterproof sleeping bag, so the inside was still warm and dry. Naruto still didn't get why they hadn't stopped at the lodging village just half an hour's walk away, but Jiraiya had been unusually insistent about leaving it. Now though, the clouds had cleared to leave blue skies and sunshine.

"Ero-Sennin?" he said, blinking to let his tired eyes adjust to the brightness of the morning sun. Jiraiya was standing nearby, looking over the landscape, his telescope in one hand. He put one eye to it, scanning the valley below them.

"Get up, Naruto. We should get a move on."

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked.

"We have over a week's journey ahead. We need to move." Jiraiya snapped the telescope closed and leaned down to fiddle with his pack. Naruto sat up, pulling on his jacket over the black t-shirt he had slept in.

"But where are we going, Ero-Sennin!" he asked, more insistently. Jiraiya was gazing out over the valley again, his twinkling eyes unfocused. He looked back at Naruto, smiling slightly.

"Konoha," he said. "We're going home."

* * *

Her senses were attuned to everything around her. Ears listened for every sound, every rustling of grass. Even a breath of wind through a still tree could not escape her attention. When the attack came she was ready, jumping expertly sideways and watching as a handful of kunai battered the ground where she had just been standing.

Three attackers landed behind her. She ran forward, ducking and rolling aside as one of her companion's weapons flew towards them. She returned to her feet to watch her teammates engaging the enemy.

She kept her eyes on them, her senses alert, but she did not engage. If she were injured, then there would be no one to help the others. She felt, more than heard, the movement behind her. Perhaps there was a breath of air towards her, or a tiny sound, but whatever it is she sensed the enemy behind her. She felt the build-up of chakra as a technique was formed, but she had no time to get out of the line of fire. She gathered chakra in her hand, jumping up towards the enemy shinobi. Her fist thrust out in front of her and into the chest of the enemy Nin as he formed the last in a sequence of hand seals. He was sent flying backwards into the forest, slamming hard into a tree, the force of the impact damaging the bark.

She looked towards him and her eyes widened as she saw a head of black hair, swept up behind his head in a very familiar style. His head slowly came back to upright, and she saw a trail of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. He opened his eyes and stared at her with pure black eyes. It was a moment before she could move.

_Not him_, her mind told her, screaming out to her to tear her eyes away. _It's not him. Look away. There are other enemies_. She blinked, looking at him again. It wasn't him, of course it wasn't. But there was an undeniable similarity that scared her a little.

"Sakura!" a voice called behind her. Ignoring the boy who was struggling to stand up, she spun around and looked to where she had been called. One of her companions had fallen. She ran to his side, pointing into the trees after the other enemy ninja.

"Another one. In there," she said as she fell to her knees at her comrade's side. In a way she was grateful for something to distract her from the memory that had come unbidden, of the last time she had looked into a similar pair of black eyes. She formed a series of hand seals, and green chakra swelled around her hands.

* * *

Jiraiya left Naruto with the packs and disappeared into the lodging village, for reasons that he would not explain to Naruto. The orange clad young ninja was left munching on some snacks the perverted hermit had left with him. According to Jiraiya, there were still two days from Konoha, but Naruto was starting to recognise landmarks. They had been through this lodging village before, on the way out of Konoha, on their way into the hills where Naruto had begun his gruelling training.

Naruto looked at himself now and wondered if he seemed as different to others as he felt inside. The past two and a half years had been exhausting, and yet rewarding as he felt himself growing with each passing day, under the steady tutelage of one of the legendary Sannin. And yet at the end of the day, sometimes, he would find himself lying awake, staring at the stars and wondering how his friends in Konoha were. He thought about Shikamaru, and the other Genin he had graduated from the academy with. He thought about Neji, and fuzzy-eyebrows. But most of all, he thought about Sakura-chan, training with Tsunade-Obaa-chan.

Their parting had been sad: the breaking of their team, however temporary they intended for it to be. He remembered the determined smile on her face as she told him that next time they would go to get Sasuke back together. He remembered his promise to her. The promise he still intended to keep.

And he missed her. He missed her smile, the encouragement she was so willing to dole out to her team-mates, her acts of courage, even when she knew she had no hope of success. He even found that he missed her scolding him every ten minutes. Much as Jiraiya was a good teacher, he couldn't fill the void left by the splitting up of team 7.

They had each gone to one of the legendary Sannin to train. Naruto was learning ninjutsu from the frog-Sannin. Sakura-chan was learning to be a healer, a medic. Sasuke… even the thought of Sasuke brought memories of their last battle back. He didn't know what Sasuke was learning, and he didn't really want to. Anything that could be taught to him by Orochimaru was not worth learning, in Naruto's opinion.

How strong was she now? Sakura, sweet, kind, beautiful Sakura. Learning to heal, and learning to fight and learning from the most fearsome Kunoichi in the fire country, perhaps in the world.

Naruto sighed deeply and abandoned the food he was eating in favour of reminiscing. Perhaps he was looking back on her with cherry-blossom tinted spectacles, but he didn't care. He had loved her then, and he continued to love her now… even if she would never truly understand that.

And now he was on his way back to her, to see her, to talk to her, to be in her illustrious presence once again. The thought intoxicated him, and in his mind he could see her waving at him, pleased to see him for perhaps the first time in their lives. This time it would be different. This time their meeting would be with fondness on both sides. She would see how much he had grown, and how strong he had become, and this time he would show her that what she meant to him was far more than she had ever realised.

Beloved comrade, trustworthy friend, beautiful girl.

* * *

Sakura sat in the library staring at the open pages on a medical journal that Tsunade had recommended to her. She wasn't paying all that much attention, however. She was thinking about the boy in the forest, with Sasuke's hair, Sasuke's black, black eyes.

"_Sakura, Arigato…"_ Her eyes closed on the memory and a tear slid down her cheek.

So much time had passed, but she still looked back on her time with him with great fondness. Despite his constantly shooting her down, she still looked back and viewed the dark and brooding Uchiha with something more than just that childish affection she had once viewed him with.

He was her first crush. In fact, he was most of the girls in the academy's first crush. He was handsome, with a strong face, glossy raven hair, startling eyes… and he was a ninja genius. Top of his class in everything, with abilities that some Genin would have envied. He was smart, he was strong, he was fit.

So many times in those months of looking at him, she had dreamt of what it would be like to kiss him. To feel his arms wrap around her, holding her to him. She had imagined so vividly what it would feel to kiss him, to touch his velvet lips with her own, and stare closely into those ebony eyes.

But now, after working with him for a year that wasn't the reason that Sakura still loved him. Girlish crushes wear off after a while, no matter how good looking the object of affection. After her constant rebuffs, she might have grown tired of him… he wouldn't even have deigned to walk down a street in the same direction as her if it wasn't for the fact that they had been put on the same team.

Now she loved him because of the other things she had seen… the things that he would never admit to. On their very first mission out of the village he had risked his life to save Naruto. He had saved Sakura from Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. He was still dark and brooding, still lost in a world she could not fathom, but she had seen sides to his personality that very few would ever see. When Sasuke had opened up, just slightly, he was something special… even if you neglected all the things that everyone else saw and admired.

He tried to be hard. He tried to be heartless. He tried to not grow attached to people. In the end, he had failed, and he had let Sakura and Naruto earn a brief glimpse into the part of him that actually cared about people. He had grown fond of them… it had been harder for him to leave Konoha than any of the others would ever realise.

Sakura had wanted to help. If she had been as strong then as she was now, then maybe she could have stopped him, or at least helped him… but this was all hindsight, and there would be no chance ever to test that hypothesis.

Two and a half years and she had grown so much. She wondered how much he would have grown in that time, as well. How strong would he be after two and a half years of training with Orochimaru? How many new techniques would he have mastered in that time?

How many times would he have thought of her?

Why did she still feel so strongly for someone that didn't care for her in the same way? Why did she still need him?

"Sakura! Do you have that recipe I asked for?" Sakura looked up from the desk to see Tsunade's intimidating form approaching.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," she replied, handing Tsunade a little scribbled-on piece of paper. Tsunade looked at it, then back at Sakura.

"Your mind's not on the job, is it?" Sakura looked back up at her master.

"What do you mean?" she replied. Tsunade turned the piece of paper around to show a picture of Sasuke doodled on it. Sakura blushed and rooted amongst the things on the desk for the actual recipe.

"Iwashi told me that one of the enemies you fought looked very much like him," Tsunade said, her expression thoughtful as she examined her young student carefully. Sakura's eyes drifted off into the distance.

"Yes…" she said. Tsunade sat down opposite Sakura and leaned her elbows on the table, resting her head on her hands.

"I've told you before, Sakura… there is nothing we can do for a while. We don't have the forces to spare that we can send after him… and until we do…" Sakura shook her head.

"I know, Tsunade-sama, it's fine… I've been trying to concentrate on growing stronger, so that I can be an asset to the village. Sasuke-kun…" she paused, the ghost of a smile playing on her lips. "I won't forget Sasuke-kun, but I know that we need to wait to get him back." Tsunade smiled.

"Rest assured, I doubt Naruto will have given up on his promise just yet." Sakura smiled, crinkling her eyes up.

When Tsunade was gone, Sakura's expression immediately fell again. She looked back at the doodle on the piece of paper and she sighed.

Naruto wouldn't have given up on his promise. But what about her? Was she strong enough now to face him in the way she hadn't been able to before?

* * *

"Stop! Thief!"

Naruto whirled around where he was standing and saw someone running, carrying a bag over his shoulder. Naruto jumped towards him, grabbing the thief by the shoulders and swivelling him around to punch him in the jaw.

Seconds later the victim was standing beside him, thanking him profusely. Naruto smiled and laughed it off, refusing the kind offers of reward.

"It was nothing, really," he said, extricating himself from the growing crowd and easing away, trying to find Jiraiya amongst the crowds of people. You wouldn't think a tall, bulky, loud, white-haired man like Jiraiya would be hard to spot, but he could be so hard to find sometimes. If he was in one of the houses of ill-repute, then Naruto would kill him.

"I told you to wait outside the village!" Jiraiya said, appearing behind Naruto from nowhere.

"I know, I know… but I've been there for hours!" Naruto said, pointing an accusatory finger at his teacher.

"It's all right. I'm done now," Jiraiya said, sounding distracted. "We should get a move on."

"What's the big hurry? We've waited this long! How is…" Naruto stopped at a sharp look from Jiraiya.

"I've heard some disturbing rumours… Akatsuki are on the move. I'd like to be back in Konoha before they try anything." Naruto blanched slightly at the mention of the organization that had him on their hit list, but his only reply was a stiff nod.

"How far are we away from Konoha, anyway?" Naruto asked. The last time he had asked the Perverted Hermit, Jiraiya had said that they were a day away, but that was yesterday.

"Don't you recognise this place, Naruto?" Jiraiya asked, smiling as they walked through yet another lodging village. They had all started to bleed together in Naruto's mind. He looked around, but didn't see anything he recognised.

"No…" he said. Jiraiya smiled.

"This is the village where we first encountered Itachi…"

Naruto's face fell as he remembered the fateful events of that day. He could still summon frighteningly clear images into his head of Sasuke being beaten by his older brother. He shuddered as he remembered those events, and what had followed. That encounter was the catalyst that had led to Sasuke leaving Konoha.

But at the same time, he smiled… they were nearly back in Konoha. They were only a couple of hour's walk from Konoha.

"Naruto! Hurry Up!" Jiraiya was halfway down the street. Naruto jogged to catch up with him.

"So we'll be there very soon?" he asked, suddenly feeling excited. Jiraiya smiled.

"Yes. Very soon."

* * *

Sakura used a kunai to deflect Shizune's needles and jumped aside as the older ninja jumped towards her. She dodged a barrage of kunai and ran up a tree trunk as Shizune ran at her again. Sakura jumped down to land behind Shizune and threw a kunai. Shizune used a replacement technique, but Sakura had found her again before she had a chance to attack. Shizune found Sakura's fist flying towards her before she could do anything.

Sakura stopped half an inch away from Shizune's face and smiled.

"I win," she said. Shizune smiled in return, nodding.

"Very good," Tsunade said, moving in from the sidelines. Sakura grinned. She had only recently started being able to get the better of her sparring partner and it still hadn't lost its novelty. She was definitely getting stronger.

Shizune left soon after to return to the Konoha hospital, while Sakura and Tsunade walked back into the village.

"You get better every day," Tsunade said. Sakura quietly glowed under the praise from her teacher and she smiled.

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama," she replied.

Suddenly they heard a familiar voice behind them. It was a voice that Sakura hadn't heard in a long time.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Her ears pricked up and she turned around.

"Eh? Naruto?" The orange-clad ninja ran up behind her, grinning. Sakura's confused expression grew into a smile as she looked at her team-mate. He had grown.

* * *

PREVIEW

**Story 5: 'Another Girl': **Ino is very confused. Shikamaru keeps disappearing off to the Sand Village, and no one will tell her why. (ShikaTem and one-sided Ino-Shika)


	5. Another Girl

**Story 5: Another Girl**

**Summary: **Ino is very confused. Shikamaru keeps disappearing off to the Sand Village, and no one will tell her why. (ShikaTem and one-sided Ino-Shika)

**Genre:** Romance / Comedy

**AN:** This isn't that funny, maybe amusing… but hopefully it'll still be reasonably enjoyable. Please read and give feedback. It makes me happy. Preview for the next one at the bottom (another ShikaTem).

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. If I did I'd be too busy making the filler better to write fanfiction.

**Another Girl**

The unstoppable formation Ino-Shika-Chou was one member short. Shikamaru had left Konoha, supposedly on some great Chuunin level mission. Ino didn't believe it.

Every one of her friends said the same thing. Even Asuma-sensei seemed to be in on the conspiracy. Well, Ino wasn't as gullible as they all seemed to think she was. Also, Sakura was being excessively nice to her at the moment. It was very unnerving.

"Ino! You want to come and get something to eat with me?" Sakura shouted from a little way down the road.

"Sure," Ino replied. It's not like there was anything else to do. She had completed all her missions for the day and Chouji had gone for barbecue with his dad. Sakura was obviously pining for her absent team members, because she took Ino to the Ichiraku Ramen. But she had offered to pay, so who was Ino to complain?

"So, do you know where Shikamaru's really wandered off to?" Ino asked, a piece of chicken poised elegantly between her chopsticks. Sakura didn't even miss a beat.

"Tsunade-sama gave him a-"

"Chuunin level mission," Ino finished. "That's what everyone keeps telling me." Ino sighed deeply, staring into her broth. Sakura smiled sweetly.

"You're paranoid, Ino. Everyone's telling you that because that's the truth." Ino looked sideways at her under hooded eyelids.

"He left the village alone. And he didn't once say it was troublesome. I know Shikamaru… any mission, especially a difficult one like Chuunin might be sent on, he says 'this is so troublesome' at least three times before he leaves the village." Sakura smiled at Ino's impression of Shikamaru, but she just laughed off-handedly in response to the question.

"He'll be back soon enough, and then you can ask him yourself."

"Where is this mission?" Ino asked. Sakura hesitated for a second, then smiled again, her eyes crinkling up into half-circles under her pink eyelashes.

"I think it's in the Wind Country." Ino sighed again, turning back to her Ramen.

"One of these days, I'll find out where he's gone."

* * *

There was a sandstorm outside. The wind kept on battering the door of the room. Not that that seemed to bother the two inhabitants of said room. A sexy blonde with amazing legs was startlingly close to a dark-haired boy wearing a fishnet shirt. They were… well, lets just say they were joined at the mouth and leave the detailed descriptions for some other time.

"What about that girlfriend of yours?" said the blonde, breaking away and sauntering sexily over to a table to get them both cups of tea. The dark haired boy watched her being sexy. She does it so well… just an effortless grace to the way she moves. Her perfect, soft, silky blonde hair was tied up into four bunches, each of them sticking out at odd angles, but still managing to look tamed. She turned her profile towards him, and looked at him sideways with dark eyes, partially hidden by lustrous black eyelashes.

"She's not my girlfriend," he replied, leaning back on the sofa and folding his arms behind his head. The blonde poured the tea whilst still looking at him, a predatory glint in her eye.

"She seems to have illusions to the contrary," she said, returning to him and handing him the cup of tea. The boy just laughed.

"She's nothing compared to you… Because she's on the same team as me she thinks she owns me or something," he said. The blonde sat back down beside him and pressed her form close against him. One hand idly drew circles on his chest, her long, perfectly manicured nails tickling him slightly through the fishnet top. She moved her face closer to his and kissed his cheek. Her nose brushed lightly against his cheek, and her breath made his skin tingle.

"She had better be nothing more," she purred, her mouth very close to his ear. The boy smiled nervously, more because she was a dangerous opponent if he ever did cross her.

"I assure you," he said sipping his tea to wet his suddenly dry lips and throat. "She's just my teammate." The blonde smiled and leant her head on his shoulder as he drank his tea.

"Good," she replied.

The tea didn't last very long, and as soon as he put the cup down, she placed a hand under his chin and turned his face towards her. He didn't resist as she kissed him. Well… would you?

* * *

Ino was collecting her missions for the day, with Asuma and Chouji. She listened with growing impatience as the Hokage reeled off a list of extremely boring, pedestrian missions for them to accomplish.

"Tsunade! Why can't we go off on interesting missions like Shikamaru?" she asked.

"Because you're still Genin and Shikamaru's a Chuunin," Tsunade said, after a moment's hesitation. Ino didn't miss the look that Asuma had given to the Hokage though. Something was definitely going on and Ino didn't like it.

Once their missions were collected, they left. On the way out they ran into Kurenai and her three Genin subordinates, standing talking to Sakura. They stopped when they saw Ino. Hinata smiled cutely at her, and Kiba raised a hand in greeting.

"How's it going Chouji, Ino…" he said to his fellow Genin.

"Not too bad," Chouji said, smiling amicably.

"Missing Shikamaru a bit," Ino said, planning on asking the other team members where Shikamaru had gone.

"Oh yeah… I heard he'd gone to bang--" Sakura cut him off sharply, jumping to stand between him and Ino.

"Himself into shape," she finished, laughing nervously. "He's gone to bang himself into shape." Kiba looked at her with a bemused expression on his face.

"That doesn't even make sense," he muttered. Sakura hit backwards, catching him hard in the stomach. He jerked and coughed loudly, but bit back any retort. Sakura just laughed again.

"That's it!" Ino shouted, pointing a finger in Sakura's face, her own face contorting with rage. "If none of you will tell me where Shikamaru's gone, then I'll have to find out some other way!"

"Calm down, Ino…" Chouji said, trying to keep a safe distance from her before she directed her rage towards him. Without Shikamaru there to extend his shadow, Ino could be a mite unpredictable. Ino didn't say anything, she just stalked off down the corridor. Asuma sighed and rolled his eyes, following after her. Chouji, seeing no other option, also set off in pursuit of his irate teammate.

* * *

Shikamaru returned to Konoha with a grin on his face. Ino had heard he would be returning and was waiting for him, making sure that she was the first one to see him when he returned. She practically charged at him when she saw him sauntering through the village's gates.

"Shikamaru!" she shouted enthusiastically. "Where have you been?" she said, gripping him in a hug. Shikamaru stood stiffly, his arms flailing out beside him as he tried to fend Ino off.

"I've been in the Wind country," he said, managing to pry Ino away.

"I was so worried about you! They said you were on a dangerous mission!" Ino said, her face a picture of relief.

"It was fine, in the end… nothing too troublesome," he said, shrugging and moving away from her into the village.

"Shikamaru! I know you weren't on a mission." He looked at her, his eyes half closed under lazy eyelids.

"Huh?" he replied.

"You've been disappearing off a lot recently," she said. "I miss you when you're gone, Shikamaru. You know, if you stay in the village more--" she moved closer to him, flicking her pony tail and batting her eyelids. "I could make it worth your while." Shikamaru shrugged.

"Ino… I've told you before. You're just my teammate." With that he sauntered off, leaving a very angry Ino behind him.

* * *

Ino had trailed around the village talking to everyone she knew, but it seemed that, while some were initially ready to tell her, there was always someone else who butted in, preventing them from saying what they were about to say. Too many times, it was Sakura, and the pink-haired Kunoichi was getting on her nerves. She went to see Shino, when he was on his way back from training with his team.

"Did he not tell you?" asked Shino. "He is in a rel-"

"Relative crisis!" said Sakura, appearing from nowhere. "His aunt and uncle are arguing all the time… you know how it is, haha." Ino glared at her, but Sakura just kept laughing awkwardly.

Later, she ran into Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji and Tenten.

"He's been off in the Sand village, enjoying the springtime of youth by making passionate lo-" Said Rock Lee

"Allies among the Sand ninja. Making passionate allies," said Tenten, with a pointed look at her teammate.

Why would no one just tell her where Shikamaru was going and what he was doing there? She could handle it. He had been to the Sand village three times in the last two months. There had to be something other than making allies, or 'performing some secret Chuunin-level mission'.

* * *

Temari was coming to town. She had been given a couple of weeks off from the Sand village to come to Konoha. Shikamaru was waiting for her at the gate, but he had the feeling that another young blonde lady would show up before the beautiful woman that he had fallen in love with made her appearance.

Ino was troublesome. She had been asking everyone where Shikamaru kept going, but some of his friends had so far managed to protect her, in order to spare her feelings. Now that Temari was coming to town, continuing this was going to be very difficult.

On cue, almost, Ino appeared behind him, her grin wide, her hair loose for a change, and her voice high-pitched.

"Shikamaru!" she squealed.

"Jeez Ino, could you keep your voice down you almost perforated my eardrums. You're so troublesome." Chastised, Ino paused, looking a little bit confused.

"Sorry," she said. She recovered herself, twiddling with her hair as she sidled closer to Shikamaru. "I heard you were here to meet that Sand ninja, Temari." Shikamaru looked at his teammate and felt sorry for her. She had been pawing over him for months now, but he just didn't feel the same way about her. She lacked something, which Temari had in abundance. It was probably her legs. He decided it was time to put Ino out of her misery and stop lying to her and pretending.

"Yes," Shikamaru replied. "She's my girlfriend."

"Is she coming to-" Ino started, before what Shikamaru said sunk in. "Your WHAT!" she screeched, her voice almost pitching into ultrasound. Shikamaru ducked away from her, covering his ears against the shout.

"My girlfriend," he repeated when she was quiet enough to hear him. He shrugged, and she looked furious. He could almost see the smoke pouring out of her ears.

"But Shikamaru! How could you find someone else!" He looked at her and sighed. This woman was so troublesome, and he'd had about as much of her as he could stand.

"Because you're an annoying boar who has no idea what men want from a woman," he said. Ino was stunned for a moment, then her eyebrow twitched expressing her displeasure. "I'm not a fool, Ino. I don't take what I don't want…"

Her fist connected with his face and Shikamaru was sent careening away from her. He hadn't expected the punch, so its full force sent him flying into the posts at the side of the gate. Ino stalked over to him, her face red and veins popping out all over her head. Her hands were curled tightly into fists as she prepared to hit him again.

"Hey! Little girl!" a voice came from beside her. Ino whipped her head around, her furious blue eyes landing on a slightly taller blonde girl. "Stay away from my boyfriend," the Sand ninja purred, whipping her fan around and sending Ino flying off into the village, screaming words that polite girls don't use. Temari raised an eyebrow and looked back to where Shikamaru was nursing a bump on his head.

"You ok, weakling?" she asked, smirking. He looked at her with an idiotic smile on his face as he stood up and walked towards her.

"Did I ever tell you you're especially hot when you fight?" he said. Temari grinned, her eyes crinkling up and she laughed. She put her fan back into its belt at her back and took Shikamaru by the arm.

"Yes, but I like to hear it often."

"You're also scary," he said, his voice a little quieter. Temari was still grinning as she led him away.

"And that makes sure you never cross me," she replied, her voice light and casual. Shikamaru just laughed nervously. Women really were troublesome.

* * *

**PREVIEW**

**Story 6: 'You're Gonna Lose that Girl': **Temari's hot, but it turns out she's also a real flirt. Shikamaru wants her, but is he up to the competition? (ShikaTem)


	6. Youre Gonna Lose That Girl

**Story 6: You're Gonna Lose that Girl**

**Summary: **Temari's beautiful, but it turns out she's also a real flirt. Shikamaru wants her, but is he up to the competition? (ShikaTem)

**Genre:** Romance

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. Really I don't… whoever said I did was lying.

**AN:** ShikaTem is my favourite pairing, and this is the only story of this series that's had a coherent idea since I started this little project, so I have to write it now I've got here.

However, it may be my last 'Help' fic. I don't write just for reviews, or I would have stopped long ago… but if I don't get at least a couple, this will be the last in the 'Help' series. I have other projects on at the moment, and if this one isn't getting appreciated, I'll go and do something else. So if you'd like to see the others just review… it will only take a minute, but it'll make me happy. :)

The other titles are: 'Ticket To Ride' 'Act Naturally' 'It's Only Love' 'You Like Me Too Much' 'Tell Me What You See' 'I've Just Seen A Face' 'Yesterday' and 'Dizzy Miss Lizzy.' I will also take requests, if people would like to see a particular character in any of those stories, I will endeavour to include them. 'Tell Me What You See' will be about Neji if I write it, and 'It's Only Love' will have Hinata in it… but apart from that, I welcome ideas.

**You're Gonna Lose That Girl**

She was tall, slender, beautiful. When Shikamaru lay back and looked at the clouds and dreamed of his future life, with his wife and kids, he imagined a woman like her waiting for him when he got home from missions. She was a fearsome woman, it was true, but it was because she was passionate. In some ways she was all that Shikamaru had ever wanted. In other ways, she was everything he couldn't handle in a woman.

Her name slid over his tongue like a fine wine, fruity and full, _Temari_. Its meaning was irrelevant when it sounded so good.

Also like a fine wine, it went straight to his head, wrapping its way around his consciousness and robbing him of rational thought. He was a fine strategist. He knew how to make the best use of the few skills he possessed. But when it came to her he had only his blood to guide him. And his blood wanted her. It cried out for her, hot and almost painful in its intensity. His blood fairly sang in his veins, wanting to wrap his slim arms around her waist and draw her sensuous body to him, claiming her for his own.

His brain told him she was the one woman in the entire world he could never have. While he wanted her, so did so many other men, and Shikamaru wasn't the most attractive or the most charming or the most anything. He didn't have a chance with a girl like that.

That, of course, didn't stop his heart from beating twice as fast when she came near him. If her hand so much as came within a foot of touching him, his stomach fluttered and his heart leapt into his throat. Her dark eyes hid under eyelids that could switch from vicious to seductive in an instant. Just by looking at him she could elicit feelings within him that he had never known before.

In the Sand village, there were many young men seeking the affections of the Fourth Kazekage's daughter. She was beautiful, after all. Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino were in the Sand Village with their Jounin Sensei Asuma, to help with some negotiations that were going on between the Sand and another of the small countries nearby. However, the three younger ninja were not involved in the actual talks, so they had every opportunity to explore the Sand village and talk to its ninja. For Shikamaru, that meant spending a lot of time brooding about the girl he could never have.

It turned out that Temari was a flirt. Not just a flirt, but a serious competitor for 'flirt of the year' award. Shikamaru and Chouji had been sitting on a wall in the village, sharing some food and Shikamaru had seen her talking to seven guys. One of them had been all business like, but with every single one of the others, she had batted eyelids, and pouted seductively, brushing their shoulders with hands that promised more, inclining her head just so and looking perfect. Any man would have been driven crazy and Shikamaru was no exception. Just watching her made his hair stand on end and his eyes narrowed slightly further with every new man that spoke to her. It was a wonder he could still see through his eyelashes.

All this had not escaped Shikamaru's best friend, Chouji. The chubby ninja was watching his friend carefully, and had been for some time.

"You really like her, don't you?" Chouji asked. It took Shikamaru longer than usual to respond. His mind had been elsewhere, and not in the clouds as it usually was.

"I think I've fallen in love with her somehow. It's so troublesome." Chouji smiled.

"Why haven't you asked her out?" Chouji asked. Shikamaru glanced back at the sexy blonde who was, as they spoke, twirling a lock of hair around a finger as she talked to a tall attractive Sand ninja.

"Look at that guy. And there've been 5 others like him. I can't compete with that."

"She seemed to like you when she came to Konoha," Chouji said.

"Like me? She wanted to rip my intestines out and use them as a scarf!" Shikamaru replied. Chouji chuckled.

"You doubt yourself too much Shikamaru. I saw the way she looked at you," the chubby ninja said. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and looked at the object of his affections. Now she was leaning back against the wall. The man who was attempting to woo her was leaning on one arm, staring down at her. Muscles rippled on his arms as he flexed his arm. Whether or not she had looked at him in Konoha, there was no way the lanky Shikamaru could keep up with that hunk of chiseled muscle.

"It's not going to happen, Chouji," he said with a deep sigh.

"Shikamaru!" Chouji said, with uncharacteristic sternness. "How will you ever know if you don't try?"

"Chouji… I don't have a chance."

"If you don't try, you won't have a chance. She's not the kind of girl to wait around forever if you don't do anything about it. You'll lose her. But if you ask her out, then maybe you have a chance."

"What? A chance to have my arms ripped off?"

"A chance at having a future with a very beautiful woman," Chouji said, smiling gently. Shikamaru looked at the sincerity in his friends' eyes and then looked back at the beautiful woman in question. Temari reached out and brushed the Sand ninja's face with a perfectly manicured hand and batted long eyelashes at him.

"I…" he started, his eyes falling as he turned back towards Chouji.

"Shikamaru!" Chouji said, his voice and expression sterner than Shikamaru had ever seen. He nodded slowly and stood. He found his legs weak underneath him as he started the walk towards her. It could not have been more than fifty metres to where she stood, but it seemed to take forever. He tried to seem casual, but every step took an eternity.

He glanced back at Chouji, and his friend nodded at him, urging him onwards. Shikamaru turned back and kept on walking.

When he reached her his palms were sweating and his heart was a hammer thumping at his ribcage so fast he was surprised it didn't batter a hole out of his chest and bury itself in the nearest wall. She was just yards away from him now. She had noticed him and was looking at him with those stunning eyes, capturing him in her glance and holding him. If he hadn't known better he would have assumed it was some kind of Genjutsu. But no, this was just the power of her beauty.

The male sand ninja was staring at Shikamaru now, looking very angry. But his face was one of a thug, a grunt… a bully-boy. Shikamaru had been dealing with bully-boys for a long time, and this guy didn't know about the Shadow Imitation technique.

Temari's eyes narrowed as Shikamaru approached.

"Hey you," said the Sand ninja. "Beat it! I was talkin' to the lady." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and looked him squarely in the eyes. He was the first to admit he was not the most courageous of men, but this ninja had just been plain disrespectful. He felt a tight knot of courage in his stomach and the corner of his mouth twitched up into a half-smile.

"Weren't you just leaving?" he asked, his voice casual, but with a hint of menace in it.

"I don't believe I was," the ninja said, squaring his shoulders and looking down on Shikamaru with his extra six inches height. Shikamaru looked back at him and didn't even blink.

"Oh… well, I can arrange it for you, if you'd like," Shikamaru said. He instantly regretted it, cursing himself for the stupidity of the previous statement and preparing himself for the blow he would no doubt receive.

However, after a moment of summing him up, the Sand ninja turned and stalked off. Shikamaru blinked a couple of times, staring after him, doubting his own eyes. How the hell had that happened?

"What did you do that for," said Temari, leaning back against the wall. She was looking bored and slightly annoyed as she stared at him under hooded lids with those mesmerising eyes. Shikamaru's windpipe was suddenly constricted as one moment of looking into those eyes tore the very breath from his lungs. He tried to regain his composure, to stop his voice from cracking. Chouji's voice popped back into his head '_You'll lose her._' He forced a deep breath into his chest and looked at the stunning woman who was standing next to him, looking very pissed off.

"Temari," he said slowly, feeling every syllable slip out with perfect ease, as though his tongue had just been waiting to say them for his entire life. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and folded her arms impatiently. He forced the words out, meeting her eyes and smiling just a little bit, but steeling himself against the blow that would undoubtedly follow. "Did I ever tell you that you have the most gorgeous eyes I have ever seen?"

Temari was momentarily taken aback. She paused, her mouth left slightly open as she looked at him. Then her lips curved into a smile.

Before Shikamaru could take a breath, her mouth met his in a passionate kiss that almost made him lose his footing. Her hands wrapped around his shoulders, circling him and pulling him towards her. Her lips caressed his and her tongue slid between them to explore his mouth, both tenderly and passionately. It took him a stunned moment to realised what was happening. He stood, rigid until he realised that the woman of his dreams was actually kissing him. He forced himself to relax, his arms circling her waist, drawing her as close as he dared, tilting his head and reciprocating in the most dazzling kiss of his limited romantic career.

Finally she drew her head back, her eyes almost closed as she looked at him with a large smile on her face.

"Really Shikamaru," she said, her voice almost a purr. "Was that so hard?"

Shikamaru's face slowly formed a huge grin as he looked back at her, and this time it was his mouth that claimed hers.


End file.
